Mankind has long envied the duck and frog for their superior aquatic abilities. To mimic the advantages of their webbed appendages, it is common for swimmers and divers to strap swim fins on their feet. Along the same lines, a number of webbed device to be worn on the hands have been proposed, none gaining the universal usage that swim fins have earned.
Water sports have grown in popularity and variety in the past decade. In particular, some water sports, such as surfing, specifically require only paddling with the hands. Other well known water sports, such as swimming, body surfing, snorkeling and scuba diving, require both the hands and feet to generate motion. All of these activities would be enhanced by adding webbed hands.
Athletic training regimens have also become more sophisticated and demanding. For instance, swimming race events such as the triathlon require enhanced upper body and arm strength which could be accelerated by wearing webbed devices on the hands during training.
The prior art teaches a variety of swimmer's gloves and mitts and the like, for example such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,121,312; 4,058,863; 3,938,207; 3,874,014; 3,263,248; 3,231,910; and others.
The prior art teaches a variety of swimming aids which provide webbed areas between the thumb and index finger and between the rest of the fingers of a swimmer's hand. The objectives of the prior art are either accomplished through a number of over-inclusive features which result in overly complex and expensive fabrication costs or overly simplistic elements which do not survive the rigors of active swimming.
Rigid paddles have also been used in certain water sports such as kayaking. However, such rigid paddles were simply strapped to the wearer's hands, and were effectively only oars without handles. These paddles caused fatigue and discomfort and do not have the flexibility required for the other discussed activities.
Providing webbing between the thumb and fingers of a swimmer's hand provides improved swimming abilities by increasing the amount of fluid displaced by each stroke of the swimmer's hand. The additional resistance afforded by such webbing is advantageous in the training of swimmers in that it improves the swimmer's control, thereby buoying the swimmer's confidence in his abilities and builds muscle tone due to the additional effort required to move the arm through the water.